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Jan 21, 2025
Do It Yourself!!, a original anime from Pine Jam that took itself in a rather simple but unique direction. It's a show that's extremely simple yet so well made that it brings a very simple story and premise to it's fullest. I'm not getting heavy into detail with this review as this show is quite simple, so the recommendation is this show would appeal to those who enjoy calming slice of life style shows, or educational/hobby type shows.
Do It Yourself is pretty much everything you see in the picture and read in the premise, it's about a club at a girls school that focuses on
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DIY projects, like building a bookshelf, table or any other DIY project, at least one that's usually done with mostly wood and power tools. The characters learn how to build things, they have some depth to them and aren't just shallow personalities but it doesn't go too deep and keeps the show at it's DIY focus. There is story is here, it's simple but well refined for a DIY show and works well at not taking the spotlight from this show's main focus. The DIY parts are generally done well, they're quite realistic for the most part and anyone who's used power tools for a project can easily tell that. They don't go too far into depth with it and that's totally fine as this shows main focus isn't teaching it's viewers how to use power tools to build stuff but rather have it's characters learn DIY.
The production here is excellent the art is very simple with it's styling but it looks excellent, animation is good, it's a DIY school show so there isn't any fast action to show off or impress you with but they do a fine job and nothing looks cheap or badly done in the least. Music is nothing over the top either but it's very good on the whole also, voice acting is very good and up to standard, Do It Yourself has a very solid production overall that doesn't try and blow you away but is very well made and easily does it's job.
On the whole it's exactly as it seems, it's really simple but very well done, it's entertaining, enjoyable, possibly educational, and will probably leave you having enjoyed the experience of watching it without blowing your mind, surprising you, or amazing you. It's very good on the whole and has very few to no flaws but is a bit too simple to be a masterpiece or anything. 8/10
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Dec 29, 2024
Nihon e Youkoso Elf-san, or Welcome to Japan Elf-san, a manga that is made only for those who love the recent elf trend coming from Japan. Nah actually, that's a joke, this manga is just pretty good overall. The gist is, MC guy goes into a Isekai like world in his dreams, when he dies or falls asleep there he wakes up in the morning and works his regular day job. One time he dies from dragons breath while on an adventure with an Elf friend he made, except she instead of dying she actually came back to Japan with him!
Yeah, it's a pretty normal
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or simple plot for an anime or manga all things considered, this one's strength lies not in a unique and captivating story, an OP MC, the "harem" like tropes of Isekai, or anything of the sort, in fact this doesn't have any of that at all. It focuses on a Elf from another world learning about and experiencing daily life in Japan, the tourism parts, the daily life parts, learning the language and of course the food! Alongside our MC Kazuhiro who found most of his excitement and fun in his life adventuring in the other world. Beginning to love his own world that he once felt wasn't enjoyable and had little he cared for, alongside just maybe a few hints of some romance as a side.
This manga doesn't set it's sights high, it doesn't offer a large and interesting plot or story, at most some character backstory and nice background type world building info here or there. It's strength lies in it's wholesome, light hearted and fun mix of semi interesting fantasy adventure, and characters enjoying Japan and experiencing what it has to offer. At the end of the day, it's simplicity is the source of it's strength it's does it's job and it does it quite well, it's got everything you want, the wholesome, the semi emotional, the fun, and the funny, without the stuff you may or possibly may not dislike, such as OP MC, harem, overused tropes, cliche story with stakes that don't actually exist.
8/10, it's simple, but effective, and does what intended to do well without the extra BS holding it back, but lacks some of the grander or more complex scale many masterpieces will have.
As for my opinion, Welcome to Japan Elf-san is a bundle of wholesome, joy, fun, and happiness to brighten your day.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Dec 22, 2024
A review of Hirogaru Sky! Precure, or Soaring Sky! Precure.
The Precure series as a whole is a vast one, with many different shades and styles to it, however they always have a few things in common. They're made for kids, they're about magical girls, and they always have some form of villain. This review is going to take a semi deep dive into this show, looking at it's strengths and flaws, and how Soaring Sky! Precure makes itself a Precure series that despite being a show designed for kids, has some exceptional strengths that can make it a good show regardless of age.
There is
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one topic to breach before we begin, the Precure series is designed with an audience of as young as 3 years old, to as old as about 10 years old in mind. As such there are things the series CANNOT be faulted for, as a show that's main target is that audience will have inherent limitations on the show in many ways. As such this review will keep the shows limitations and target in mind when discussing and pointing out it's flaws and giving criticism to ways it could improve.
The first and most important topic to breach is the story, as shows designed for kids usually end up on one side of the bar, they either have what is essentially no story, or they have a very simple story, but one that's effective for it's target audience. Soaring Sky manages to be neither one, it's story does have quite a few typical cliches of the genre, a baby princess, villains targeting her, the Precure protecting her you get the gist. But what sets Soaring Sky! Precure apart is how it uses it's rather cliche start to form a excellent story and plot through good execution. Now this review is abiding by the no spoiler policy, so I can't get into specifics however I can give insight into how it makes for a good story. The show has a big focus on heroes, given it's name doubles as a pun in that sense, and this show doesn't just do kick and punch and beat the bad guys. It takes a much better approach and focuses on what makes someone a hero, and how to become a hero. Not just doing what is right, but being able to figure out what IS right to do, and even more so than that, choosing to do the right thing, no matter how painful it is to endure, it takes a very moral approach to heroes and does it very well and in many other ways also. And if that was the only thing, Soaring Sky! Precure would still be a hair better than most of the Precure series I've seen, but it's Villains also get a cut of the cake. I've gotta say, Villains in kids targeted shows are usually bad, and more often than not, it's not the shows fault but rather they can't easily write good villain in the story due to the legal limitations of the shows target audience. Soaring Sky! Precure actually has good villans, for the most part, they fulfill their role as the scary villains, but they also do soo much more than that for the story. I'll touch on them more in the character section, however story and plot wise, the villains have their own reasons and morals for what they do. They're goal isn't some simple "I'm gonna take over the world because I'm evil!" They have reason, and motivations on a level that even makes our main Hero, Sora, question if what she's doing is really the right thing. On the whole the story is truly quite good, especially taking the shows limitations into account. Now, lastly here is a question you may have reading this right now. What about the flaws? What does this show's story NOT do well? Yes, I'd be lying if there wasn't things this show didn't do so well story wise, however 99 times out of 100, I believe it's something I cannot fault the show for as they're likely unable to do better than that with their limitations. The biggest issue I can point out is the more "filler" feeling episodes, they're certainly not bad, but you can easily tell they're extra things added in for the kids watching the show. I wouldn't say they detract from it too much, but they'll leave you with a few episodes feeling worse than others.
Well here it is, the characters, and this is by FAR Soaring Sky! Precure's biggest strength. When I watch this show, I wonder how the heck the average show in a season often times fails such keys aspects when this show can do it despite the limitations. Put simply, they carried a large portion of this show, the characters have depth on a level that blew me away for this kind of show. The characters have development, they learn, they grow, they struggle, in many different ways too, not only that, the characters have depth, the last thing I expected to see here. Characters are deep, they have good backstory, motivation, goals, and don't leave the villains out of that list either. Sora herself, goes through so much, and even sacrifices things to achieve her goal of becoming a hero. Our villains aren't villains to simply be evil, they're villains to achieve their own goals, and it's a goal that isn't formed by simple "lame" reasoning. It's a goal formed by their own hardships and struggles. If all that wasn't enough, Soaring Sky! Precure, isn't afraid to get very emotional either, and take it to a fairly deep level too. On the whole the characters carry this Precure series above and beyond and are the main reason from my view, making this a Precure series that despite being a kids show, carries it's weight as being fairly enjoyable for adults who aren't picky about specific "quirks" kids shows may have.
Lastly here, let's look at the production, the directing here is simply excellent, they have a director who knows how to direct a show well, while staying within the boundaries of a kids targeted show. Combined with a overall very good OST to make the scenes feel even better to the viewer. The Animation on the whole is quite good, but with 1 major issue, the art. I don't remember most of the "older" Precure series from the 2010s having issues like this, but Soaring Sky! Precure is a well animated show but has some issues with art inconsistency or art quality at times. There were a couple episodes that you could really tell something was off as the characters eyes would occasionally look misaligned, most of the episodes didn't suffer from this however it's still worth noting. From what I can tell, this looks to be a rushed production problem, as there was some areas where art just looked unfinished, and unrefined in a way you wouldn't expect from a finished work. All this could be completely false speculation, however it is still worth pointing out the mostly minor art issues.
Hirogaru Sky! Precure or Soaring Sky! Precure, is a show that certainly isn't for everyone, after all it is a Precure series, however for those who like the Precure series or those wanted to start watching the Precure series, this is absolutely one of the better ones in the series. For those who think the Precure series is only for kids and is a bad watch is you aren't one, it is a series targeted at kids, but that does not make it only for kids because as with any and all types of movies, show or other media content, the genre, idea or even simpleness doesn't make a bad story, it's what they do with the story, and how well they use and execute it. Soaring Sky! Precure deserves it's 8/10 for knowing what It needs to be, but despite the limitations it doesn't shy away from going beyond trying to be simple kids entertainment and having a well refined story and characters.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Dec 17, 2024
Konosuba, the "good" isekai, funny parody haha isekai. I've seen people call it many things, and the general consensus is that it's really good. So, is that all? End of review? Nah, not quite. Konosuba is certainly a good show, however it's one that tends to be a bit over hyped and overrated, likely due to a lack of people caring to point out it's inherent flaws and downsides which is somewhat expected and in this case not a huge deal for most as you'll see.
Now, this isn't a show with a complex story or plot, it doesn't need a deep dive looking at it's
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story, plot, and characters, or rather, it's pointless to do so, as no one on this earth watches Konosuba for said purposes. It's one of those shows that doesn't even take itself seriously so you wouldn't watch it for that. So instead this review is gonna give you the general idea of whether you'd like it. And well simply put It's a parody and comedy through and through, with not much else going for it.
Now, who is this show for? That's the real question. Konosuba has no lack of stupid and silly moments to try and make you laugh, perverted jokes, the irony of cliches, you name it and Konosuba probably does it. And it actually does it rather well too, which is why it generally makes for a quite enjoyable watch. That's also the main reason this show is a tad over rated, as although it's certainly a good enjoyable watch for most it's definitely not a show for everyone. The main issue here is what Konosuba is a parody of, a "generic" isekai. It's takes the generic Isekai MC who wants to be a overpowered hero, and adds, 3 girls to his party to fill the other roles. And then with that, it goes and makes fun of the Isekai formula by making everything not work out, and every character becomes a silly cliche joke making machine. And well, it works, for most people. Anyone who's watched some of the most "generic" Isekai and hates the cliches and forumla would probably be most likely to get a laugh out of this. It takes that generic formula does a 180 and makes everything go wrong for the Isekai MC, while also turning the sillyness meter up to 11. So realistically, it's a show that's for those who like it's jokes, or rather aren't turned away by the extreme amounts of sillyness or perverted jokes.
So with some simple explanation you know what it's about. And maybe have some idea of whether you'd like it or not. And well from the view of one who's watched the show, you probably will like it if you enjoy the stupid, and sometimes overly silly but still well designed jokes, and you don't mind watching really stupid or ironic perverted jokes either. Sure, it's a tad over rated, and definitely not for everyone, but for those it is for, it's generally quite an enjoyable and good watch. 7/10
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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Dec 10, 2024
Elemental Gelade, is a shounen anime that despite not seeming very unique, very much is in it's own way. Calling this an underratted or hidden gem Shounen wouldn't be a lie in the least. It's rather short compared to more popular Shounen like Nartuo, Demon Slayer, and Jujutsu Kaisen but it's story can hold it's own against them. I'm gonna get long and detailed with this review so the short reccomendation is, if you like battle shounen type anime e,g Naruto, AOT, Demon Slater etc, and enjoy them for their mix of silly quirky comedy and fights this is for you. OR if you enjoy
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heartfelt and somewhat emotional stories with a bit of romance and don't dislike silly comedy or shounen fights this is also for you.
Let's start things with the story and plot, this is arguably one of the most important parts of Elemental Gelade that sets it apart from many other anime in it's genre alongside it's characters. Although I am handicapped a little by a spoiler free review I'm going to go into detail as much as possible without spoiling more than the synopsis does. The story isn't especially unique, it's premise is even rather simple, but that's not a problem in the least. As Elemental Gelade doesn't require new or unique ideas to make a good story, as it's strength lies in it's execution, and it's quite good overall. The main premise centers around Coud, who is a rookie in a group of sky pirates, wants to grow out of his stupid rookie role and become the leader or "boss" of the sky pirates. If that gives Naruto wanting to become hokage vibes, you already have a decent idea of this guys background. After the air raid Coud finds an Edel Raid named Ren sealed away in a box and "accidentally" frees her. It seems a pretty stereo typical Shounen start with some definite Naruto vibes showing up here and there. But through a seemingly stereo typical "Shounen" anime start, Elemental Gelade ends up doing things a bit different. The story has a somewhat unique gradual pace and build up. Edel Raids, which ren is one of, are unique compared to regular people as they're able to "merge" with people in a sense and turn into weapons and also use abilities and powers of their own that normal people can't. The show doesn't just use this as a plot device for Shounen fights. It goes into pretty good detail about many other matters such as, people treating Edel Raids as weapons or tools and using them for their own gain, instead of treating them like people, and not just whether they should or shouldn't treat them like people instead of weapons, but also HOW to treat them like people instead of weapons. Should treating an Edel Raid as a person mean you can't merge with an Edel Raid to fight? The story has a large focus on this fact, and naturally Coud himself encounters this. This Shounen show has a romance genre, anyone's dog could probably guess what that means. So yes, the story also takes relationships between Edel Raids and Humans into account and not just the relationship between Coud and Ren, and although it's execution isn't perfect by any means it's overall very good. So while it's premise is rather simple the execution of the story is very good, and while it goes a decent amount in depth, it doesn't go too far or get too complex either, and by doing so it's a much more focused story that's able to do what it set out to do very well.
Let's go with the characters next, on the whole they seem your average Shounen characters on the surface, but don't let that fool you. The characters have a surprising amount of depth and often times development also setting it apart from other Shounen. Coud Van Giruet, has a Naurto type loser start, and he grows and develops as a character over time. And by grow and develop I don't mean in the same sense as Naurto. Yes, he does grow skill and strength wise, but the focus is more so on how he grows as a character, as a person. He doesn't simply want to get stronger so to achieve his goal, rather he wants to get stronger to help him understand what he truly wants, what his goal should really be. Coud Van Giruet isn't the only character with a lot of depth and character development, but he was the best example case to use as the main character. On the whole the characters all have their quirks and silly Shounen comedy moments. But they also have so much depth and development that also make them feel so real and more like people at the same time. Oh and did I mention side characters also get pretty good character development? On the whole the characters have their quirks and you may or may not like them because of that. But there's no denying that they are good, well designed characters that have many qualities outside the surface level parts that make them that way.
Lastly here is the production, now this anime is from the year 2005, standards were a bit different back then so I am judging some aspects of it accordingly. The Voice acting is up to the standard you'd expect from Japan's anime industry. Openings and endings are quite good, The OST used in this show is really nothing special but it gets the job done quite well. The Animation production is quite good. The art is pretty consistent, there are quite a few still frames in this show, however they're used in a very intelligent way so that they don't affect the watching experience that much. Due to that, action scenes and important scenes that require more motion are of good enough quality to provide a good watching experience. It's not gonna hold up to many newer anime releases however it's very intelligently animated and given it's year of release, the animation is quite good.
So on the whole Elemental Gelade is a decently underrated Shounen that's also somewhat of a hidden gem. And although it's far shorter, it can certainly hold a candle to popular Shounen from the same era like Naruto. Elemental Gelade is a show that doesn't set it's sights too high but it executed very well and provide a great watch due to that. 8/10
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Dec 1, 2024
Tensei Kizoku, Kantei Skill de Nariagaru, is an anime that is quite a bit better than the average Isekai you'll see every anime season these days, but it's certainly not without it's fair share of flaws. On the whole it's an alright show that you might like if you don't take it's story too seriously or go into it with high expectations. The short version is, you'd probably like this as a side watch as it works very well as simple entertainment but can't give you too much more as it does a decent job but doesn't excel at anything it does either.
Starting things off
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with the premise and story, and on the whole it's actually not half bad but certainly has it's fair share of flaws. The Isekai portion of it is a gimmick at best and has basically no purpose or point to the story. If you watch this you'd probably think that the show would've been better if they just removed it and that wouldn't be wrong. On the whole the MC being from another world serves literally no purpose, he doesn't do anything with the fact he's from another world and doesn't even act like it either. This show is basically a fantasy that became an Isekai just so it could be part of the genre. The main focus is on his skill which basically let's him see peoples abilities and strengths as a "skill screen" like one you'd see in a game. The MC is pretty pathetic outside of that ability skill wise, but at least he realizes that and makes some attempt to overcome it. However the shows main purpose is him gathering talented allies using his skill, and on the whole it's just "ok" not bad, not good, just ok. The show tries to put some back story and such behind every character he recruits and in general it'll leave you feeling underwhelmed. It's not outright bad, but it's just the prime example of a mediocre to average backstory for pretty much every single one. Ars is from a very small domain and his father is the lord of it, and I mean it's REALLY small. So as the future lord of the domain Ars is gathering capable allies to help him make up for some of his lack of ability so he can take over one day. The premise is actually really good, but it's execution of it's story ranges from pretty good to really mediocre, not outright bad just really mediocre.
The characters on the whole are the shows biggest strength. On the whole they have a lot of areas they do fall flat in, the backstory and such being the main offender. However there's no denying that they all make for pretty entertaining characters. Except Rosell, this kid is by far the worst character in the show. His backstory is pathetically bad compared to everyone else's, he's an absurdly shy kid who also hates doing anything he doesn't want to do and would almost come off as being a brat if it weren't for the other characters. He likes spending all of his time reading books and that's how he got his intelligence, except he makes one REALLY simple animal trap for the hunters and they're like "you're a genius" and he gets recruited by Ars. Making matters even worse, 95% of the time the way they make him smarter is by suddenly making all the other characters suddenly get stupider to make his idea seem smarter. On the whole the problem isn't that his ideas are dumb necessarily, the problem is the ideas are more often than not something that anyone literally anyone with average intelligence should've been able to think about doing. I have no problem with characters making smart decisions but when the decision is about something that should be common sense 95% of the time and the show suddenly makes all the other characters too stupid to be capable of doing that so Rosell can seem smart just irks you the wrong way. Despite the stupid flaws this show has, it's characters do at least end up having one of the most important things right which is they're entertaining to watch at the very least, although they're really most held back from being good by the flaws. The character development on the other hand is actually pretty decent, mostly for Ars though, I'm not gonna go into detail to avoid spoilers but essentially the guy does at least make some growth and improve over time and while it's nothing top tier it's does it's job quite decently and is actually held back by his "Isekai" origins more than anything making some of it seem rather dumb for his character.
Lastly the production, on the whole it's "OK" which seems to be a big theme with this show. It doesn't do anything outright bad but it doesn't do anything great either. The art style is actually very unique and nice to see. The art quality is OK, I certainly felt at times the studio had trouble drawing the art "correctly" in a sense or consistently but it certainly wasn't bad. The animation is just OK also, many less important scenes are quite still or lack motion but they do more for the action scenes. On the whole it screams "low budget" they put movement where necessary and don't where it's not. On the whole it's not bad and doesn't have any crappy CGI put in to make it worse either but it could've been better. Music is fine, it's really nothing special but it gets the job done well enough. Voice acting is up to standard for what you'd expect from Japan's anime industry.
Well that's that, on the whole this show is really just "OK" it does nothing really well but it doesn't do anything really badly either, except maybe Rosell. It's generally going to be a decently entertaining watch, especially the character development parts of it and while it's flaws don't ruin the show they certainly hold it back a fair bit. 6/10
Reviewer’s Rating: 6
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Nov 27, 2024
Handyman Saitou in Another World is an isekai that tried to be different from the usual "generic" stuff you'd expect from the genre but did it in a rather unique and out of the box way. My short reccomendation is, if you like slice of life mixed with comedy or character focused anime with a bit of comedy, or have watched and liked animes like Aharen-san wa Hakarenai, That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime, Slime Diaries, or Encouragement of Climb this anime is probably for you.
First let's hits things off with those FLAWS, I've gotta be negative sometimes right? Jk. Let's start with
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the story and plot, because on the whole it's pretty simple and barebones. It's basically Saitou who worked as a handyman ends up in another world, and joins a party of eccentric adventuring individuals to be their "handyman", basically he just picks locks on chests and helps fix some of their gear. So if you wanted to watch this for the "handyman" part of it, they have it but it's pretty barebones and not too much of the selling point or focus. There really isn't too much of a plot or story here instead it focuses more on it's characters and comedy than anything else. I suppose the best way to put it is, here or there they'll make a short story/plot centered around a specific character that lasts for 1 or maybe 2 episodes and that's that. If you've seen Violet Evergarden (which you totally should if you haven't already), think of this like having the short character stories from some of it's episodes but without a larger plot or other things going on alongside it and in general the character stories not being not quite as good. On the whole the lack of more story and plot in this show is the biggest thing holding it back, however it still manages to be entertaining and a good watch despite that.
Next let's get to those characters which is this show's biggest positive alongside, THE COMEDY!! The first 3-4 episodes is pretty much all comedy and nothing else. There's a bit of those character stories I mentioned coming in after that but there's still a lot of comedy mixed in with those too. The main 4 are pretty good characters and overall quite funny, especially Morlock. I kid you not this senile old man carries HALF the comedy in this show. Even when this show tries to be serious he's usually mixing comedy in with it. On the whole it makes the show pretty entertaining which is nothing but a good thing. Raelza on the whole is an alright character, it's obvious from episode 1 she has a crush on Saitou and while she does have more going for her character than that it's not the focus as much partly due to this shows use of comedy. Lafanpan is decently funny also but didn't have much else going for her. They tried to give her character some more depth around the 4th episode but they didn't go far enough IN-DEPTH (sorry) with her background and such to bring her up to par with the rest, maybe they can fix that if we get a second season. I mentioned Morlock earlier but he's not just carrying the comedy in this show. Bro also has the most interesting backstory and more depth than any other character in this show, while also being the flattest piece of comedy in the entire show. Saitou himself is honestly pretty basic and flat compared to the other characters, he's not outright bad by any means but he could've used some more work and fleshing out. I wont talk too much about side characters but on the whole they're fine and fulfill their comedy jobs pretty well.
Ahh my favorite part of this show, the production. C2C is back at it again and they simply don't miss, the art style is somewhat unique and is drawn more than well enough for this show. But the animation here is top notch, C2C have pretty much always been slapping way larger studio's animation in the face by having far more detailed, expressive and fluid movement in EVERYTHING they've animated. Heck Moonlit Fantasy was an anime they'd worked on for it's first season and the animation went straight downhill when JC Staff took over for the 2nd season even if they did the art well enough. So on the whole having C2C producing this has been nothing but a godsend for it's animation production quality, this studio NEVER fails to impress me there. The voice acting is on par to the standard you'd expect from anime, music and audio production are both very good, they're not anything top tier but they easily do the job well enough.
On the whole The Superb Senile Adventures of the Magnificent Magician Morlock, oops sorry I meant Handyman Saitou in another world. It's a show that's simple story wise, but overall entertaining and a worthwhile watch that'll probably give you a few laughs. It's nothing amazing and certainly doesn't go without is fair share of flaws and problems but it's very easy to recommend due to it's strengths and most would likely find this a good watch due to that 7/10.
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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Nov 15, 2024
Dantalian no Shoka or The Mystic Archives of Dantalian is an anime that I personally really wanted to love but just couldn't so I dropped it after 5 episodes. Still, regardless of whether or not I liked this anime it simply cannot be called a good watch. The flaws this show suffers from are fairly uncommon in the anime industry making it hard to say whether or not (you) the one reading this would like this show or not. So first here's my short general "recommendation" or "advice" I usually give in my reviews for those not wanting to read this whole thing.
The simple
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gist is this show was rushed as much as possible and because of that the plot is filled to the brim with holes and loads of stuff that doesn't make sense. If you like Dalian's personality of being a total tsundere that easily caves to sweet food, and likes books etc etc and don't care if all the dialouge and story is sped up by 20x and crammed into a space so small it's almost unwatchable then sure watch this if you have nothing better to do with your time. But I wouldn't recommend this show to basically anyone as it is.
Well then going more in depth now let's talk about the story, characters and plot because they all suffer the same major problems. The plot and premise actually seems pretty good, Hugh's grandfather dies and in order to obtain his will he needs to manage his archives and take care of Dalian. Dalian is basically a being that holds the Bibliotheca Mystica de Dantalian or The Mystic Archives of Dantalian which essentially contains a massive amount of knowledge and information alongside "forbidden knowledge" found in Phantom Books. Which are dangerous books that can do many often problematic supernatural level things and Hugh and Dalian will often be sealing away said books in nearly every episode. Honestly this premise isn't bad and doing it in a episodic way like that isn't necessarily bad either. The problem is the "story" doesn't really go anywhere or have any meaning. Dalian and Hugh literally don't take on a main character type role to seal these away in the story, they literally just do it cause they can that's it. They have no reason or goal to do it and the story doesn't have a direction to go either. Every episode they just stumble across a Forbidden book here or there with some new character supposedly being involved and they seal away the book at the end. Now look this type of show CAN work but only when it's executed properly, Magic Kaito 1412 is a great example of one such show. But when every character we come across is insanely shallow and having no depth to them. Put it alongside the outright terrible writing that makes everything the characters speak feel rushed and like they're trying to dump 5 minutes worth of info onto us in just 1 minute. The entire premise was shoved into the first episode which involved the man who killed his grandfather. Neither of them even reacted in a human way to that fact, they're just like "He's the man who killed Wesley" with a straight face and normal tone and every episode after the first one is worse. The writing is so dang rushed all the characters can do is speak plot points and nothing else with the only exception being some of Dalian's food and book loving personality.
The production quality is also pretty bad, putting aside the pacing, rushing and more story focused aspects of it. The art is often quite poorly drawn and very inconsistent so while it can at specific times look rather good it's more often than not looking like an anime from the 90s on VHS that was upscaled to a blurry high res digital variant that has poor detail and looks like mud half the time. Not even the animation can save it as many scenes have incredibly stiff and basic movement or even none at all. The music is decent and I actually really liked the opening song, but it's such a shame that it was paired with opening visuals that are totally out of place and don't fit in the least. The voice acting is fine, nothing great about it but nothing bad about it either and it's really held back by the script and writing more than anything.
Overall this show is a total mess of a production that seemed like nobody working on it wanted anything more than to gloss over everything and rush every single aspect of the show as much as possible like they're trying to get an achievement for it or something. I honestly would rate this a 4/10 and tell you to watch a generic isekai instead however the plot and premise of this show weren't half bad and were something that I genuinely loved and wished we're done better. So I guess it can have a 5/10 but I still don't recommend it to anyone due to it's massive flaws. I might update this review later if I ever decide to come back to this and finish it but at this point that's rather unlikely.
Reviewer’s Rating: 5
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Nov 11, 2024
The Raven Does Not Choose It's Master is by far the most impressive hidden gem I've ever seen. An anime that despite it's masterfully produced story, plot and pacing still manages to stay at the bottom of the popularity barrel. That sad treatment is something it certainly doesn't deserve, If I said it was better than everything that released in the same anime seasons as it, I wouldn't take that as objectively true, however it wouldn't be that far off from the truth. The short recommendation at the start is if you enjoy political maze plots, mystery vibes or even just watched something like "The
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Apothecary Diaries" and liked it for the "political" or mystery type parts of it. There is no reason on this earth you shouldn't watch this.
Let's hit things off with the story and plot, the actual setting or even idea isn't especially unique (at least at first glance) it's seems like mostly a pretty standard historical political setup. But the author here doesn't just look at the premise and have it tell you about the show. It's has excellent world building and isn't shy to get really detailed or complex about it either. You can tell the author thought through the details for what they we're writing and their effort shows. It's story and plot are simply put a masterpiece, it goes and builds well beyond it's seemingly "simple" premise offering a deep, interesting, and extremely well thought out story. The perfect and beautiful pacing and setup to the masterfully planned story and plot. You can figure some stuff out ahead of time by paying close attention and using your head a little. In fact I did figure out a couple major plot points a bit before they were revealed and was still impressed by this show. There's certainly some hints to things before they're revealed but if they're anything it's certainly subtle and you're unlikely to notice. The story and plot take center stage the whole way through and they really don't disappoint. I did try to find flaws with this story, believe me I really did, but gave up as there wasn't a point trying harder to find them. Everything I could possibly argue is "bad" with this show really isn't something bad about it, rather it's something I personally felt could've made it a little better if done differently. The story and plot here are truly something special, so much so that I almost feel I don't have the worthiness or intelligence to deserve this story, however it's also a viewers job to accurately review and critique a show they watch so here we are.
Next are the characters, overall they're quite good. the main critique here is really just that some characters might've felt rather shallow and lacked the same "depth" others did but I don't blame this show for any of it. Most of the characters that play bigger roles in the plot are the ones with more depth and feel to them but a couple of important ones felt rather left out or lacking in depth compared to others however it's not something you'll feel detracts from the show in any way. They're all generally entertaining too and won't make you feel as if they're lacking or "bad" characters in the least. The characters aren't quite the focus for this show as the story and plot take the spotlight with the characters more so being "plot devices" in a good sense. They all fulfill their roles in the story and plot excellently and due to how outstanding the story and plot are, is also why it ends up providing characters that are good all the same.
The production was overall quite good. The animation wasn't top tier by any means but it was more than good enough to fulfill it's purpose and where necessary such as in higher motion scenes it hardly ever felt too "cheap" or lacking in motion. The art while also nothing outstanding more than fulfilled it's purpose. The voice acting is up to the standard you'd expect from Japan's anime industry. Music and audio could feel a little simple or lacking at times but it was good enough to do the job. Overall it's quite a sufficient production if only above average, it's nothing that's gonna shock you by how good it is or be a selling point for the show (e,g Demon Slayer) but it wont hold the show back in any way.
I won't go into any more detail than this as spoilers would ruin the whole show but simply put this is a near masterpiece and one that has sadly sat heavily overlooked for it's time since release. If you are looking at this show wondering if you'd like it or thinking about whether you should or shouldn't watch it. Do it, don't even think otherwise, In the event you don't like it a "generic isekai" wouldn't have done you much better anyways. And in the event you do like it you'll be so glad you gave it a shot. The Raven Does Not Choose It's Master has become a show that's earned it's 10/10 by proving itself to be a cut above the rest and having it's 20 great episodes to show for it.
Reviewer’s Rating: 10
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Nov 1, 2024
Lycoris Recoil, an anime that manages to be both extremely good and extremely bad in a lot of ways and at the same time to boot. Confused? I bet, but this 13 episode anime is quite a jumbled mess of pros and cons to review. As per usual the short recommendation is here at the start as follows. This anime's strong points are it's characters (depending on who you are), exceptional animation and production quality, and action/combat scenes. The weak points are it's story, plot and characters (again depending on your personal tastes). If you've watched Dr. Stone, Sword Art Online (original S1, not the
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remake movies those are different), Spy X Family, or Love is War, and mostly liked them for the comedy or characters from them and not the story. AND you don't mind an anime with a stupid plot or lackluster story you'll probably like this.
Let's hit things off with the pros, because this one has some MAJOR ones to talk about.
Firstly the animation and production here is simply excellent, it puts many anime and movies released in the past 5 years to shame with the quality and consistency of it's art, the art style is a somewhat unique taste but looks great overall. It's smooth and masterfully animated all throughout, the action scenes are exceptionally well put together and designed, there's almost nothing that can quite compare to how great a job they've done here. Music and voice acting are both great and more than meet the standard you'd expect from anime. Both the Japanese and English dubs are done very well here too, either is a great choice to watch with.
Secondly, the characters are overall quite good with some exceptions I'll get into later, but on the whole you'll find them entertaining, their personalities vary quite a bit from each other (in good ways) making them really feel like characters that are different not just because of some simple quirks they have. There's some amount of story for the characters to give them some depth and on the whole it's alright, generally nothing great or outstanding about it, however it gets the job done and is easily superior to this shows plot. On the whole the characters are good and the slice of life portions mixed into this show are generally where they show themselves best, though not always.
Now let's move onto these CONS the "fun" part of the review.
First and foremost is the biggest con with this series by far, is of course, it's plot. Putting it in the most simple terms, it's stupid, just flat out stupid. Now I would like to go into full detail on just how stupid this plot is but I've gotta abide by my decision to not have spoilers in this review. Putting it simply it's a logic mess, the whole premise is based around DA, which if you've read the synopsis will know it's a agency training orphan girls from a young age to be agents and killers to keep the peace in Japan. Sound cool? Well without going into to detail it's not nearly as cool as it sounds because the whole story's logic is so stupid DA as an organization doesn't even make sense and it's a real let down for those wanting to watch this for it's premise. There are certain aspects of it's story that are actually quite good that I can't go into without spoiling but they aren't enough to make up for the stupid plot.
Secondly is it's characters! (yeah again), This show seems to like inserting comedy at almost all times and throughout it's overall quite mixed. The main 2, Takina and Chisato are the most common case of it. Some of the jokes are just plain stupid even past the point to where they aren't funny and depending on who you are it might just kill enjoyment in the show. That said there's also fair amount of jokes that are actually very good hence the comedy being rather mixed. Given that comedy is somewhat subjective this is by far the biggest factor that will make or ruin enjoyment from this show depending on what you, the viewer enjoys.
On the whole Lycoris Recoil is an alright show with some major strong points and quite a few weak points to hold it back. I had deja vu of my decision to watch Sword Art Online to see for myself why it was so popular while watching this. And let me be honest, I didn't regret watching this unlike Sword Art Online (especially the later seasons) this show runs circles around sword art online with far less flaws making it a far better watch (Sword Art Online remakes are better though). Although many will like this show due to it's top tier production quality and overall subjectively funny jokes without taking issue with it's poor plot and such, it's objectively just a alright show that may or may not make for a enjoyable watch. 7/10
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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